šµĀ Word of the week ā itās the word of the week!Ā šµ
Each week as part of the internship and in general when volunteering on the Samuel Johnson Dictionary Project, we are asked to submit a āword of the week.ā This can be any word in the dictionary, whether we found it through the random button (literally a button labeled random that will bring up a random word) or during our assignment that week. In celebration of this semester coming to a close very soon (which, how??), I thought I would share my words of the week from the internship with you! This will include their definition, as well as a note of whether or not Iāve heard them before so we can see how well the words from 1755 hold up, so to speak!Ā
Week 2:Ā dungyardĀ ā hadnāt heard of it
Apparently, I mostly chose this word because it made me laugh, and I stand by that! It means āthe place of the dunghilā and yes, that is spelled correctly with just one ālā.Ā
Week 3:Ā buttĀ ā definitely heard of it
Faithful readers/graders of this blog will recognize this word from a previous post on the shifting definitions of words. Iāll let yāall see if you can guess the correct meaning from the eighteenth century.
Week 4:Ā gewgawĀ ā hadnāt heard of, but love it
A very cute sounding (and sort of meaning) word: āsplendidly trifling, a bauble.ā In my weekly post I paired this word with a lovely gif of a corgi walking down the stairs. I am truly a sommelier of gifs.Ā
Week 5:Ā footballĀ ā heard of it
This familiar sporty word popped up inĀ The Spectator, and I was surprised to find that it has been in the dictionary (at least) as far back as 1755. Ironically, I found it around the same day as the Super Bowl!Ā
Week 6:Ā minstrelĀ ā heard of it
This one still means āa musician; one who plays upon instruments.ā Makes me want to go back to Medieval Times (the restaurant, not the period) and root for the green knight while jousting.Ā
Week 7:Ā whetĀ ā hadnāt heard of it
This one showed up inĀ Richard IIĀ by Shakespeare: āI will whet on the king.ā At that point I had to confirm what it meant because the kindergarten giggles were making their way forward. It means āTo edge; to make angry or acrimonious.ā Not quite as funny.Ā
As a quick note: itās impossible to choose between Baz Luhrmann'sĀ Romeo + JulietĀ andĀ 10 Things I Hate About YouĀ as the best Shakespeare adaptation.Ā I will accept no debate!Ā
Week 8:Ā griceĀ ā hadnāt heard of it
This is a word that has two definitions, but we will focus on the one where it means āa little pigā because, frankly, the other definition is boring.
Week 9:Ā riceĀ ā heard of it, eaten it
I chose rice because it's what Iād had for dinner the night before and was (apparently) still thinking about the leftovers. Fortunately, it still means basically the same thing today as it did in the eighteenth-century!Ā
And Iām just realizing weeks 8 and 9 rhyme.
ā¦and so did that.Ā
Week 10-11: A brief break in words of the week thanks to Spring Break, but I was still getting my internship hours in!Ā
Week 12:Ā merry-andrewĀ ā didnāt realize Iād heard of it
This is my husband's name (Andrew, not Merry) and other than the buffoon bit it describes him quite well: āzany.ā Also, in looking for a suitable gif to use in the weekly post, I realized that merry-andrew was in the movieĀ Kate & Leopold, so I had heard it without even knowing!
The semester isnāt over just yet, so maybe Iāll cover the rest of the words in a future post. For now, I hope I have left you with a greater appreciation for how much fun we have working on the Samuel Johnson Dictionary Project here at UCF *pretend thereās a gif here of Knightro being really cool because my site wonāt let me add gifs*!Ā